When Roc-A-Fella was at its height, Philadelphia Freeway was one of the anchors that helped the label stake its claim. Since then, Freeway has fought through a lot of adversity. Yet none has been harder than the recent death of his son.
During an appearance on Jeezy's The (Re)Session podcast, Freeway explains that his faith has helped him cope with losing a child.
"It's like what I told you about Islam and about God," Freeway said to Jeezy around the conversation's 29-minute mark. "Without that, I don't know where I would be at right now. But my faith in God and my understanding in God really got me through."
Freeway goes on to touch on some of the hardships 2020 has dealt him. He disclosed that his daughter was diagnosed with cancer in September and she is gearing up to start a new treatment.
"So, we're dealing with that and for my son to die in October," Freeway continued. "They say God tests the ones he loves. He must love me because I've been getting hit with a lot of tests."
Last month, Freeway revealed that his son, Jihadd, passed.
"God knows I try my best to be strong, but this right here is a pain like I never felt. Please cherish your time and your love ones because we’re not promise the next breath," the rapper captioned a picture of himself and his son. "I Pray Allah forgives my son for all Of his sins and I pray that Allah grants him the highest level of paradise. Ameen Please make dua for him & my family."
Like his father, Jihadd hoped to venture into the rap game and was creating tracks under the moniker SnowHadd prior to his death.
"Anything could trigger it," Freeway said when asked if he ever thinks about things he could have done differently as a father. "He liked music. I be like 'Maybe I shoulda had him around me more.' ... Every day I'm like 'I could've did this, I could've done that.' But I can't beat myself up about it. What's decreed by God—what's decreed by Allah, we can't argue with."
Along with bearing the burdens of his children, Freeway also had his own health issues that he's battles. Freeway was experiencing kidney failure when he received an organ that saved his life. His family decided to pay this gift forward by allowing Jihadd's organs to be donated to save four lives.
"He was an organ donor...two people got his kidneys. One person got his lungs, and one person got his liver. It's a blessing," he said. "Just for it to come full circle because someone's son saved my life. Someone's son was in the same position and they were generous enough to be an organ donor and that's how I received my kidney."
Listen to Freeway's full appearance on Jeezy's The (Re)Session podcast below.
